I have noticed something when viewing my X1 from the side even at normal eye level. I am able to see what appears to be light silver, almost white pieces of the undercarriage of the car. After noticing this a few times I looked under the car to see if something had become lodged underneath my car, but found that it was actually part of the undercarriage. I took a few photos so everyone knows what I am speaking of. Have you all noticed this? Does this piece look like this under your car? I drove my car in Germany on snow and salt covered roads and live in a very hot climate (southern US), so it could be corrosion, but I wanted to see what this piece looks like on others' cars before mentioning anything to the dealer. If this turns out to be normal I am considering scrubbing the piece down with degreaser and then taping off and coating it in a couple of coats of durable black paint so it does not stick out like a sore thumb.

Those are chassis braces and yes they're normally bare metal.
The E9x chassis cars have one of them (the one with large plate at the front) and it was bare metal on both mine and the wife's 335i xDrives.

I agree, especially the bulging muffler from behind it's hideous. Has anyone painted it flat black and if so did you just use high heat spray paint? Also, does anyone know if painting the muffler affects the warranty in any way?

I agree, especially the bulging muffler from behind it's hideous. Has anyone painted it flat black and if so did you just use high heat spray paint? Also, does anyone know if painting the muffler affects the warranty in any way?

Shouldn't affect warranty, IMO. But the muffler is Stainless and the braces are likely aluminum. No real need to paint unless you can't take your eyes off of them. Personally, they don't bother me at all. They'll probably look a lot worse when/if the paint begins to peel off.

Almost every car I've owned has some sort of undercarriage showing. You're right, though. It does look fugly. I've always cleaned and then applied some high temp undercoat paint followed by high temp flat black paint. Sometimes it takes a little touch up down the line, but it makes the fugliness disappear

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The bracing that you are looking at from what I understand is for those vehicles that have the panoramic roof for stiffness. This is the same bracing that is used for those that would like to install a hitch on their vehicle. I currently have a S drive w/o the panoramic roof and in order to attach a curt hitch, I have to install those braces and a A frame underneath. I have identified all the components and hopefully if not too expensive I will retrofit my car and install the hitch myself. Just don't look down.